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Full Text
RR 2012/140
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
Naples, FL
2009
URL: www.readex.com/readex/product.cfm?product = 308
Last visited November 2011
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Produced in conjunction with the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kansas State Historical Society and the Library of Congress
Keywords African Americans, Electronic media, History, Newspapers, United States of America
Review DOI 10.1108/09504121211211532
When researchers examine early black press historiography, they soon discover that these publications are often described as protest publications, "championing the rights of the Negro people stimulating and organizing their struggles" toward liberation (Wilkerson, 1947). Freedom's Journal, the pioneer black newspaper was founded in 1827 by Rev. Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm. The early black press served a unique purpose, articulating the social and political aspirations of African Americans in their own words. Although many of these publications were short lived lasting only a few years or months, they reveal a point of view not often communicated by the mainstream press.
In the past, librarians aiding scholars in identifying black newspapers and periodicals were often limited to consulting bibliographies but now librarians can direct scholars to digital full text versions of these critical primary resources. African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 a Readex database released in 2009, provides access to over 200 black newspapers. Readex should be commended for including James Danky as the Senior Advisor for African American Newspapers 1827-1998 and making selections based on Danky's seminal bibliography African American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography (Danky and Hady, 1998). This bibliography is a trusted reference source for librarians, archivist and historians. It is to date the most comprehensive bibliography documenting over 6,500 rare and prominent African American newspapers and periodicals published in the US. The advisory board also includes another prominent scholar Randall...